Data blunder sparks urgent manhunt

An urgent manhunt is under way for 17 wanted foreign criminals left at large in Britain for up to a year because of a data blunder by the Government.

Police forces across the country have been mobilised to track down the suspects - who are all believed to have committed serious offences in the Netherlands.

Gordon Brown has announced a full inquiry into why the CPS failed to act after Dutch authorities sent them a disc containing DNA profiles of more than 2,000 individuals linked to serious crimes, including murderers and rapists.

Although the crucial information arrived in London in January last year, it apparently lay untouched on a desk until last month.

By that time, at least 11 of the individuals had committed crimes including assaults in this country.

Tory leader David Cameron has branded the events a "catastrophic failure", accusing the Government of doing "absolutely nothing" to protect the public.

In a statement, the Association of Chief Police Officers said it was "responding urgently" to co-ordinate the hunt after finally receiving the data from the CPS.

"Public safety is the key priority of policing and we are currently concentrating our efforts on 17 individuals who may have been involved in serious crimes.

"Every effort is being made to identify any potential risks and an action plan will be put in place to minimise these," the statement said.